New Century Healthcare taps children's insurance sector

Hong Kong-listed private healthcare provider New Century Healthcare announced a partnership with Ping An Insurance and Zhongnuo Puhui, an internet company providing financial solutions for patients, to further tap children's healthcare insurance sector.

The three companies officially launched a first-of-class children's healthcare insurance program on Tuesday, which adopts the fee-for-service model so that once a child is ensured at an annual cost of about 19,000 yuan ($2,755), the child is able to get reimbursement to almost all medical and health management services the New Century Healthcare provides, except organ transplant surgeries.

Chinese parents always want to provide the best to their children, including quality healthcare, and the insurance program aims to unify the healthcare service providers and medical insurance suppliers to strike a balance between quality healthcare service and minimal medical cost, according to Chen Chen, manager of medical insurance business unit of Ping An Insurance.

Cong Guojun, co-founder of Zhongnuo Puhui, said the company hopes to leverage financial tools so that more Chinese families will be able to afford the insurance program. The company provides installment loans to families in need of money for medical care.

There are 2.31 physicians per thousand people in China, and only 0.55 physicians per thousand children, according to the "Statistical Bulletin on the Development of Health and Family Planning in China 2017".